Disclosed is a method of moving an articulating mechanism (22,410) for a measuring device, comprising the steps of: releasing two bodies (14,16, 410a,410b) which form the articulating mechanism allowing relative movement thereof; moving one of the bodies with respect to the other until a desired position is reached; and re-constraining the two bodies so they are relatively fixed, perhaps as part of a locking process, characterised in that relative movement prior to re-constraining at the desired position occurs under particular conditions. The particular conditions including moving from the same direction; and stopping, slowing down or maintaining the condition at a position adjacent to the desired position. Also disclosed is a method of positioning an articulating mechanism (22,410) for a measuring device which is controlled by a potentiometer and a controller (11) for a measuring device.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of moving an articulating mechanism for a measuring device, comprising the steps of: releasing two bodies which form the articulating mechanism allowing relative movement thereof; moving one of the bodies with respect to the other until a desired position is reached wherein the relative movement occurs under particular conditions; and re-constraining the two bodies so they are relatively fixed, characterized in that the relative movement prior to re-constraining at the desired position is a part of a locking process.
2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the particular conditions includes moving from particular direction.
3. A method according to claim 1 wherein, the particular conditions includes controlling the movement at a position adjacent to the desired position.
4. A method according to claim 1 wherein, the particular conditions includes stopping, slowing down or maintaining at a consistently used speed at a position adjacent the desired position.
5. A method according to claim 1 wherein, the step of: releasing the two bodies comprises disengaging co-operating surfaces of two bodies which form the articulating mechanism; and re-constraining the two bodies comprises re-engaging the co-operating surfaces of the two bodies so they are relatively fixed.
6. A method of moving an articulating mechanism for a measuring device, the method comprising: (a) releasing two bodies which form the articulating mechanism allowing relative movement thereof; (b) moving one of the two bodies with respect to the other until a position adjacent a desired position is reached; (c) moving one of the two bodies with respect to the other from the position adjacent to the desired position to the desired position whereby said movement occurs under particular conditions; and (d) re-constraining the two bodies so they are relatively fixed characterized in that the relative movement prior to re-constraining at the desired position is a part of a locking process.
7. A method according to claim 6 wherein, between steps (a) and (b) is the additional step of moving one of the two bodies with respect to the other until the desired position is reached.
8. A method according to claim 6 wherein, the step of: releasing the two bodies comprises disengaging co-operating surfaces of two bodies which form the articulating mechanism; and re-constraining the two bodies comprises re-engaging the co-operating surfaces of the two bodies so they are relatively fixed.
9. A method of positioning an articulating mechanism for a measuring device which is controlled by a potentiometer, the method comprising: moving the articulating mechanism to a position under particular conditions; recording a signal indicative of that position; and repeating for other positions; characterized in that, during a subsequent movement to the position carried out under the same particular conditions, a signal indicative of the position is obtained, compared with the recorded signal and the articulating mechanism is moved until the indicative signal corresponds to the recorded signal.
10. A method according to claim 9 , wherein the particular conditions includes approaching the position from particular direction.
11. A method according to claim 9 , wherein any difference between the recorded and indicative signal is flagged.
12. A method according to claim 9 wherein, if the articulating mechanism is moved to a location which is between positions, the recorded signal is interpolated.
13. A method according to claim 9 , wherein the articulating mechanism is locked when the indicative signal corresponds to the recorded signal.
14. A measuring device comprising: an articulating mechanism having two bodies which can be relatively fixed or relatively moveable; a controller which includes a comparator for comparing current device position with a desired position; and means to control motion of the device such that it always moves to the desired position under particular conditions as part of a locking procedure to re-constrain the two bodies so they are relatively fixed.
15. A probe comprising a measuring device according to claim 14 .
16. A measuring machine comprising a measuring device according to claim 14 .
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
January 27, 2006
April 1, 2008
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